Tie-plug system



Dec. 9,1924. j i 1,518,470

v C. C. WARNE TIE PLUG SYSTEM Filed April 16, 1924;

Ill

Patented Dec. 9, W24.

CHARLES C. 'WARNE. "Z'ONKERS, Hill," FZ'ORK.

TIE-PLUG SYSTET/I.

Application filed April 1'3,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES ll arns, a citizen of the United States, r-esidi g at Yonkers, in the county of ll estchestcr and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tie-Plug Systems, of which the following is a speci iication.

This invention relates to wooden plugs which areadapted in railway track practice to be driven into holes left in wooden ties after the withdrawal of spikes therefrom. and more particularly to a unitary construction and arrangement of a group or plurality of said plugs for the easier and safer haudling or shipping of the same.

My invention aims to furnish a unitary construction and arrangement of wooden plugs to constitute an integral group or assemblage of plugs substantially in the form of rectangular blocks or pieces of planks from which said plugs are formed, whereby they may be handled and shipped in flat bundles somewhat in the nature of bundles of wooden shingles and without the use of bags which are now commonly used for the handling and shipping of unit plugs of the conventional severed and detached form, and thus is eliminated the loss of many plugs due to the damage to or destruction of the bags as a result of the action of the creosote wherewith the plugs are comnfionly treated for the preservation thereof.

Other objects of my invention are to re duce the time, expense, and labor necessary to produce the plugs as well as the cost of the lumber, since my invention permits the use of small pieces of planks left over in various building operations.

With the foregoing and other objects in view the invention consists in the arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed, and while the invention is not restricted to the exact details of construction disclosed or suggested. herein, still for the purpose of illustrating a practical cmbodiment thereof reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same parts in the several views, and in which Figure 1 shows a blank or short piece of a Serial. No. 796,554.

plank preparatory to being formed into a plug group.

Fig. 2 is a View showing the blank with its upper and lower surfaces reduced or formed according to the cross section of the desired plugs.

3 shows the blank with the saw cuts whereby it is formed into a group of plugs.

Fig. t shows a pair of plugs detached from the group unit preparatory to using.

Fig. 5 is a view of one plug of the pair dctached from the other and eady for use.

The blank 10 is reotani 11:11" and of any suitable or convenient wioth depending on the available lumber or stock and preferably twice the length of the finished plug. The shaping or melding of the blank is per formed cross-wise of the grain of the wood so that the finished plugs will extend lengthwise of the grain and be sufficiently stiff to be driven into the holes left in a railway tie after the usual spikes are withdrawn.

The surface 11 is molded or formed by any suitable means such as a planing machine so as to be substantially flat and having a central V-shaped groove 12 trans verse of the grain between its ends, it being desired for the sake of simplicity of con struction that the plugs shall finally lie l pairs point to point, the groove 12 forming on one side the tapered or wedge end of the plugs. the portions of the surface '11 at each side of the groove may lie in same plane it the plugs are desired it parallel sides or slope slightly toward emother so that the blank now has a cross tion tapering from the end portions toward the groove aforesaid. Relatively narrow strips 13 along the end edges of the blank are not reduced while the faces 11 are being formed or planed except may be required to establish uniformity of thickness of the heads 14 to be formed therefrom and which are of sufficient cross-sectiona area to sustain a considerable force when the plugs are driven into a tie and of suftlcient size or volume to fill thoroughly the spike holes left as a result of distortion of the spikes incident to withdrawing them from the ties.

The notch or ll-groove 15 is cut on the opposite face of the blank and centrally in relation thereto so as to lie lengthwise of and directly opposite to the groove 12, thus forming the web or neck 16 for the points of the plugs, the purpose of which will soon be indicated. But for the notch 15, this side of the blank remains of unchanged and flat form.

Uniformly spaced weakened lines, slits, or cuts 17 are formed inward from both ends of the blank by any suitable means such a gang saw. These saw cuts or kerfs are disposed in parallel planes with two cuts in each plane defining the sides of pairs of plugs, and the cuts terminate within a predetermined distance of the central transverse axis of the blank or plug group. The strength of the neck 16 to resist splitting is thus determined by the space between the saw cuts of the same plane and the thickness of the web as well as the species of wood. The groups of plugs so formed may then be bound in bundles by wire or cord that will withstand the action of creosote so that after being so treated if desired, shipment may be made without further handling and packing.

When it is desired to use the plugs one or more pairs of them may be separated readily by splitting along the grain as inclicated at 18 in Fig. 4. The neck portion 16 plugs of each pair.

1 claim:

1. A unitary assemblage of wooden rail way tie plugs comprising a plurality of plugs formed in pairs lengthwise of the grain and of integral construction at the points thereof, said pairs of plugs being of integral construction side by side at said points and being separated between the region of said points and the ends of the plugs remote from said points, said plugs being adapted to be split from each other along the grain, and there being a notch formed crosswise of the length of the plugs adjacent to said points to facilitate the forcible separation of a pair into individual plugs after the splitting aforesaid.

2. The combination as in claim 1 wherein said points lie in a substantially straight line transversely of the grain, and said unitary assemblage of the plugs is formed by substantially parallel kerfs terminating at points in spaced relation to said line and upon opposite sides thereof.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

CHARLES C. WARE E. 

